Chena River Aviation Incorporated

Chena River Aviation Incorporated, a veteran-owned Alaska-based helicopter operator, provides on-call fixed-price helicopter flight services to the Department of the Interior as a prime contractor exclusively, holding a $16.47 million multiple-award Total Small Business Indefinite Delivery Contract through February 2027. The company operates 100 percent as a prime (zero subcontractor engagement) and competes predominantly under the Total Small Business set-aside category across its footprint.

Chena River Aviation is a for-profit Subchapter S corporation headquartered in Fairbanks, Alaska (1366 Wike Way), with primary NAICS 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation) and PSC 42 (Transportation/Travel/Relocation). The company's core capability is fixed-price helicopter-based logistics and wildlife operations in remote Alaska terrain, including population surveys, animal capture and transport, equipment logistics, personnel movement, and search-and-rescue operations across National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management territories. Recent representative work includes a $120,000 March 2026 delivery order from the National Park Service Alaska Region for wildlife research support at Denali National Park and Preserve (completion February 2027), a $35,000 April 2026 order for caribou and moose surveys and collar pickup at Fort Wainwright (completion February 2027), and a $29,997.50 August 2026 order from Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 for fire study flight support in Fairbanks (completion October 2026).

Customer concentration sits entirely within the Department of the Interior. The top five Interior sub-agencies account for 84 percent of recent awards by count. The National Park Service Alaska Region leads by volume (118 awards, $2.4 million combined potential value), while the Interior Business Center dominates the potential-value ranking ($27.1 million across 15 awards), driven largely by Chena River Aviation's seat on the primary Alaska Helicopter On Call IDC. The Office of Policy Management and Budget carries a single award valued at $38.2 million, which appears to be a one-time or programmatic ceiling entry that does not reflect typical annual delivery-order practice; the active customer set for operational task orders runs through Fish and Wildlife Service Region 7 (10 awards, $94 thousand) and Bureau of Land Management Alaska Region (11 awards, $92 thousand).

Chena River Aviation's vehicle portfolio centers on the Alaska Helicopter On Call Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC 140D8122D0011), a $16.47 million multiple-award Total Small Business vehicle awarded March 1, 2022, through which the company has issued 35 task orders carrying $1.1 million in combined potential value. The company also places work under the predecessor DOI Alaska On Call Helicopter Flight Services 2017-2021 vehicle (49 task orders, $658 thousand), the 2013-2016 predecessor (29 task orders, $569 thousand), and several Interior-specific blanket purchase agreements including IND12PA00112 (26 task orders, $208 thousand). Work is performed across multiple Alaska locations including Denali National Park and Preserve, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Fort Wainwright, and various Bureau of Land Management territories, with administrative oversight at the Interior Business Center.

Recent activity has declined modestly — 13 awards in 2022 to 5 in 2026 — though the portfolio remains stable given the seasonal nature of helicopter-supported wildlife research cycles. Five awards with ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months carry combined potential value of $240 thousand, representing minimal recompete exposure relative to the $68.1 million combined potential value across the full footprint. The company operates solely as prime contractor with no documented subcontractor footprint, performing all services directly. Chena River Aviation has held federal contracts since 2005 and is registered as a veteran-owned small business; the Total Small Business set-aside posture characterizes the entire prime contract portfolio, with 181 of 195 awards coded to NAICS 481211 (Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation).